Conference “The ‘Data-to-Doorstep’ Boom in Portugal: Data Centers, Subsea Cables and Logistics as the New Transatlantic Real Estate”
April 22, 2026 | João Morais Leitão Auditorium, Lisbon
Gold Sponsors: Accenture, Arrow Global, KPMG | Silver Sponsor: CBRE | Support: Morais Leitão
AmCham Portugal, through its Specialized Real Estate Committee, hosted the conference “The ‘Data-to-Doorstep’ Boom in Portugal: Data Centers, Subsea Cables and Logistics as the New Transatlantic Real Estate”, a moment to reflect on Portugal’s growing role in the new digital economy, where data, energy and logistics converge as strategic pillars of development.
The event brought together business leaders, public decision-makers and experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with the growth of data centers, the critical importance of subsea cables and the evolution of logistics as a new transatlantic real estate asset.
After welcome remarks by António Martins da Costa, President of AmCham Portugal, and Nuno Galvão Teles, Chairman of Morais Leitão, the session featured a speech by Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO of EDP, followed by a panel debate with Álvaro Beijinha, Mayor of Sines, Anna Margolis, Economic Unit Chief at the US Embassy in Portugal, Francisco Horta e Costa, CEO of CBRE, and Robert Dunn, CEO of Start Campus, moderated by Francisco Sottomayor, Head of Real Estate at Arrow Global.
Speech by Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade
His speech highlighted the structural transformation under way in the energy sector, driven by the growth in demand linked to data centers, artificial intelligence and the electrification of the economy.
In this context, Portugal emerges as a particularly well-positioned country, benefiting from a strong capacity to produce renewable energy and from competitive prices. Even so, the CEO of EDP stressed that maintaining this advantage will depend on the ability to keep investing in generation and grid infrastructure.
One of the main warnings focused on the capacity to execute. “Taking five or six years to license a project that takes 12 to 18 months to build ends up blocking investment”, he said, stressing that the main obstacle is not a lack of capital, but the slowness of the processes.
He also highlighted the need to strengthen the Iberian Peninsula’s energy interconnections with the rest of Europe, describing the current situation as “a disgrace”, and warned of the importance of creating the conditions to keep pace with the expected growth in demand.
Even so, he struck a note of confidence about the country’s competitiveness: “The Iberian Peninsula is more competitive than some American states”, underlining Portugal’s potential to attract industrial and technological investment.
Panel Debate
The panel focused on how Portugal can position itself as an integrated platform for data, energy and logistics, and on the concrete challenges of delivering on this ambition.
It was widely acknowledged that there is strong availability of capital and international interest, particularly from American investors, in projects linked to digital infrastructure. Portugal has been establishing itself as a strategic hub, not only because of its location, but also because of the skills of its workforce and the growing presence of large technology companies.
However, execution once again emerged as the main challenge. The need to speed up licensing processes and ensure greater predictability ran through the whole discussion.
Pressure on local areas was also one of the central themes, particularly in the case of Sines. Álvaro Beijinha warned of the local impacts of the volume of investment planned, stressing that “private investment must necessarily be matched by public investment”, notably in areas such as housing, transport links and essential services.
Another key point was the need for an integrated approach to the “data-to-doorstep” ecosystem. Developing this model requires alignment between energy, grids, subsea connectivity, land and logistics – and a failure in any one of these elements can compromise the whole.
In the conclusions, João Bugalho highlighted three central ideas.
First, he stressed that Portugal does not compete as a single, isolated asset, but through a set of complementary hubs: “Portugal has a set of competitive advantages that is not limited to a single hub; there are several relevant centers of interest in the country”.
Second, he emphasized that the capital and the interest exist, but that the real challenge lies in execution: “The capital is there, the interest is there – the critical point is the capacity to execute”.
Finally, he highlighted the importance of ambition and the capacity to deliver, particularly in the context of the transatlantic relationship: “American investors bring capital, but also ambition – and that ambition requires predictability and the capacity to execute”.
A final note was also made on the importance of integration with local communities, stressing that projects of this scale require a strong “social license” to be sustainable in the long term.
The conference showed that Portugal has unique conditions to establish itself as a next-generation energy and digital platform at the heart of the new transatlantic economy. However, the success of this opportunity will depend on the ability to turn potential into reality – ensuring efficiency, coordination and strategic vision.
AmCham Portugal thanks all the speakers, sponsors and participants for their presence and contribution to this essential debate on the future of energy, connectivity and land.
In the press:
“Demorar cinco, seis anos a licenciar um projeto é um bloqueio ao investimento”, alerta CEO da EDP | Jornal Económico
Península Ibérica é mais competitiva do que alguns estados americanos | ECO
CEO da EDP diz que medidas de apoio na eletricidade é questão “que nem se põe” | ECO
Falta de interligações elétricas com França “é uma vergonha” | ECO
Shorten licensing times or risk losing data and AI centres investment says EDP CEO | Essential Business
Private investment must be matched by public investment in Sines says mayor | Essential Business
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